The present invention relates to devices for assisting infirm and elderly persons, more particularly to a bathing chair for allowing a person safely enter and exit from a bathtub environment so that the person may be washed.
There is a great, current awareness now on the part of the public concerning the special needs of physically handicapped persons. Widespread recognition of the need to accommodate the handicapped and to provide them with appropriate means for enjoying the modern lifestyle has long been recognized. Public and commercial buildings have been modified to allow handicapped individuals into these buildings. Specially equipped elevators, low-level water fountains, and rest rooms equipped with safety fixtures are only but a few examples of how society has responded to the special needs of handicapped, infirm or elderly persons.
For decades, the bathroom has continued to present itself as the most likely room within a home where a person will be injured. Part of the danger associated with the bathroom environment is the presence of the bathtub that poses a serious threat of slipping going in and out of the bathtub. Therefore, it is no surprise that a wide variety of bathing chairs is currently available on the commercial market and an even larger number of these types of devices are known in the art of bathing chairs, for example, the shower bath chair for use in conjunction with a bathtub disclosed by Bailey in U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,445; the bathing appliance for handicapped persons disclosed by Herman in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,437; the transfer seat apparatus disclosed by Gallo in U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,809; the bathtub shower adjustable seat disclosed by Sutor in U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,297; the bathing chair disclosed by Hill in U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,178B1; and the bathing aid for the elderly/disabled disclosed by Newick in U.S. Pat. No. D392,808. While all of the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a bathing chair having a generally U-shaped framework design having a pair of U-shaped frame members in which each frame member has an upside down J-shaped configuration at the proximate end and an upside down L-shaped configuration at the distal end. This design would specifically match the user""s particular individual needs of making it possible to conveniently position the bathing chair in a safe and secure position within the bathtub because the J-shaped and the L-shaped ends aid in stabilizing the bathing chair.
Therefore, a need exist for a new and improved bathing chair that can be used for making it possible to conveniently position the bathing chair in a safe and secure position within the bathtub so that a bather may conveniently and safely enter and exit into a bathtub environment. Therefore, a bathing chair having a generally U-shaped framework design having a pair of U-shaped frame members in which each frame member has an upside down J-shaped configuration at the proximate end and an upside down L-shaped configuration at the distal end would be desirable because the J-shaped and the L-shaped ends could aid in stabilizing the bathing chair. In this respect, the bathing chair according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of affording a bather a safe and convenient means of entering and exiting from a bathtub environment.
The present device, according to the principles of the present invention, overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a bathing chair having a generally U-shaped framework comprising a seat; a support rod; a pair of U-shaped frame members; a pair of caps; a pair of bottom support members; a pair of top support members; a base member; a yoke member; and a collar. The support rod has a generally S-shaped configuration, in which the top end of the support rod is pivotally attached to the seat. Each of the U-shaped frame members has an upside down J-shaped configuration at the proximate end and an upside down L-shaped configuration at the distal end. The pair of caps are attached to the distal ends of the pair of U-shaped frame members. The pair of bottom support members are connected the bottom portions of each U-shaped frame members together. The pair of top support members connect together the top portions of each U-shaped frame members to each other. The base member connects together to the middle bottom portions of each U-shaped frame member to each other. The yoke member connect together the middle sections of the top support members to each other. The yoke member has an orifice in which the support rod rotatably engages within the orifice of the yoke member. Finally, the collar is attached to the base member, in which the collar is pivotally attached to the bottom end of the support rod.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known type bathing chairs now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved bathing chair, which will be described subsequently in great detail, is to provide a new and improved bathing chair which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a support rod that has a generally S-shaped configuration, in which the top end of the support rod is pivotally attached to the seat. Each of the U-shaped frame members has an upside down J-shaped configuration at the proximate end and an upside down L-shaped configuration at the distal end. The pair of caps are attached to the distal ends of the pair of U-shaped frame members. The pair of bottom support members are connected the bottom portions of each U-shaped frame members together. The pair of top support members are connected to the top portions of each U-shaped frame members together. The base member is connected to the middle bottom portions of each U-shaped frame member together. The yoke member is connected to the middle sections of the top support members together. The yoke member having an orifice in which support rod rotatably engages with the orifice of the yoke member. Finally, the collar is attached to the base member, in which the collar is pivotally attached to the bottom end of the support rod.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution of the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a back support, headrest, armrest and a seat belt attached to the seat. There are of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved bathing chair that has all the advantages of the prior art bathing chair and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved bathing chair that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved bathing chair that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such multipurpose storage unit and system economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new bathing chair that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thererof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a bathing chair having a generally U-shaped framework design having a pair of U-shaped frame members in which each frame member has an upside down J-shaped configuration at the proximate end and an upside down L-shaped configuration at the distal end. This design makes it possible to conveniently position the bathing chair in a safe and secure position within the bathtub because the J-shaped and the L-shaped ends aid in stabilizing the bathing chair.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of using this new and improved bathing chair is described. The method of using the new and improved bathing chair comprises the steps of obtaining, positioning, aligning, adjusting, sitting, lifting, pivoting, washing, raising, rotating, and standing.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.